Pulitzer Source Says New York Times Didn’t Submit WikiLeaks Reporting

Posted on Apr 19, 2011

One of the biggest stories of 2010, WikiLeaks’ release of thousands of classified diplomatic cables from around the world, won no recognition from the Pulitzer Prize Board on Monday.

Forbes reports that The New York Times, whose reporting on the WikiLeaks documents cast light upon the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, didn’t submit its work for the top prize in journalism.

Andy Greenberg wrote, “Despite its intense, often-impressive coverage of WikiLeaks’ Afghan War Diaries, Iraq War Logs, and many of the thousands of leaked State Department cables the secret-spilling organization has so far released, a source close to the Pulitzer submissions process tells me that the paper didn’t offer up any of that reporting to the Pulitzer panel.”

The paper later said it had included some WikiLeaks reporting as part of a larger submission, but it’s clear the reporting was not treated as a showpiece by the Times.

WikiLeaks actually didn’t leak any documents directly to Executive Editor Bill Keller’s staff. Instead, as The Washington Post revealed, The Guardian shared them with its neighbors to the east. Keller has also been publicly critical of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, which may also have played into the decision. —KDG